To The Wonder (2013)

To The Wonder Synopsis

After visiting Mont Saint-Michel, Marina and Neil come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Marina meets a priest and fellow exile, who is struggling with his vocation, while Neil renews his ties with a childhood friend, Jane.

Terrance Malick will release To the Wonder on April 12, 2013, less than two years after the flowing narrative of the Academy Award-nominated Tree of Life, which makes this the most prolific period in the semi-cult director’s oeuvre. Seemingly trading in artsy philosophy for artsy romantic foils, To the Wonder could possibly have been called Terrence Malick’s Love Movie and no one would have batted an eye.

This romance's plotline follows the emotional journey of lovers Neil (Affleck) and Marina (Olga Kurylenko). After a romantic vacation to the French destination of Mont Saint-Michel, the two return home to Oklahoma and encounter new troubles. Marina becomes dangerously fascinated by a painfully sexy priest (Javier Bardem), while Neil reconnects with his childhood friend Jane (Rachel McAdams).

Here’s the first trailer for Terrence Malick’s new movie To the Wonder. It stars Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams a couple who meet a priest in Oklahoma and renew ties with childhood friends. At least that’s the official line. In practice, if you’d told me this was Tree of Life 2 before I watched this trailer, I’d have believed you.

Which is strange … because it feels like we have been talking about To the Wonder for years. Malick usually tinkers with his films, and is hesitant to formally commit to a finished cut and let it go into theaters. Wonder co-stars Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem and Ben Affleck, who made a joke about the slow-paced drama by saying it “makes The Tree of Life look like Transformers.”

Especially just a year after the rapturous reception for Tree of Life, it was surprising to see Terrence Malick's follow-up film To The Wonder arrive at the Toronto International Film Festival to near-universal disdain. There were some critics willing to stand behind it, but most people who saw it seemed exhausted by its lack of linear narrative

With certain films, we know each and every detail about the plot summary, cast, credits, score and (if possible) DVD release date before it even reaches the theaters. And then there are the films of Terrence Malick, to which we know very little … even after we have seen them (Yes, I’m looking at you, The Tree of Life.)

This has become the norm for the eccentric filmmaker, who famously snipped such major talents as Martin Sheen, Gary Oldman and Mickey Rourke from his overstuffed ensemble for The Thin Red Line. Other actors such as John Travolta and George Clooney were reduced to mere cameos in the film.

Wonder stars an impressive array of talents, including Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem, Rachel Weisz, Michael Sheen, Amanda Peet, Barry Pepper and Jessica Chastain. IMDB claims it centers on “a man who reconnects with a woman from his hometown after his marriage to a European woman falls apart.”